Race to my heart

XXIII

"Monique I'm leaving." Was the first thing she said when she entered the door.

Mom who was holding a plate of something stood frozen at the doorway of the kitchen.

Dads eyes lifted from his newspaper.

"Absolutely not." Mom put the plate down and walked over to us.

"You can't make me stay her Mrs. M. You know I can't stay in one place for too long." She turned to All Might.

"Ericka." He sighed.

He grunted as he stood up from the couch.

I hit behind Ericka not saying a word. It wasn't my place.

"Sit down at the table I have something to show you." I watched as Mom and him made eye contact. Her eyes telling him no.

"What's this about?" Ericka asked.

She rubbed her palm. It glistened with sweat.

"Sit down Ericka." Mom ordered.

I caught along.

I wasn't going to say anything but just listen. Mom looked serious, and when she was serious, it never really meant a good thing.

"There are some things I was never able to talk about with you Ericka." Dad walked back out. A folder in his hand.

Ericka and I sat slowly down.

"Monique was dead. I had a child to take care of. I never really had the chance to show you this." He threw the folder on the table.

"Your parents." Mom started.

Ericka took the papers and looked up. Her parents. I didn't know anything about her. Much less about her parents.

"What about them?" She opened the folder.

"As you know, me and your mother were very close friends. I was there when she died." Ericka who was reading the papers froze in her tracks.

"What do you mean you were there?" I could see her harsh breathing. Hear it even.

"Your parents knew they would die in that mission. We tried our best. But there was nothing we could do." I peeked at the papers she hadn't read.

'Certificate of Adoption' I looked up at my parents.

My mouth opened wide.

"Before the mission, your parents had given us your custody." It wasn't my place to get mad. Not my place at all.

Ericka finally read it.

I watched as her chest lifted higher. Her eyes wide at the papers.

"You're lying. All Might. You had these?" She slammed her fist on the table and showed dad the papers.

"Nineteen years. Nineteen! My parents trusted you! You! They fucking trusted you! But you let me rot with parents that didn't give two shits about me!" Tears fell.

"Do you know what I went through!? You had these! You fucking had these! Nobody fucking wanted me! Nobody! I had no parents! My parents trusted you!" She sobbed.

"Ericka." Dad lifted his hands.

"Don't you dare fucking touch me! All Might, I went through hell! Trying to survive! When you had these papers, I would've believed it! I would've been okay with being adopted! I was just a baby when my parents died! But you did nothing to help!" I watched as my mom shot nervous glances at dad. We were all thinking the same thing.